Necessary
by glindalovesshoes
Summary: When a father finally decides it's time to do what's necessary in order to save his daughter from the darkness, it soon turns out it will be the best decision he's ever made. Enchanted Forest AU. OutlawQueen
A/N: Just an idea I had a while ago when I rewatched some of season 2 and finally got to write it. I want to keep it as a single piece for the moment since I have two other multichapters two write at the moment, so perhaps in case you'd like it, I will continue this at some point in the distant future. Up until then I hope you'll enjoy and please let me know what you think.

* * *

She stormed off, once again leaving him to pick up the pieces. In one of her most recent outbursts, she'd managed to make the windows of the throne room shatter, the chips of glass killing two of the black nights by accident. Snow White had once again managed to escape the guards even though this time she'd been close - oh so close to get her revenge on the girl.

Now the only damage that was done was to her ego and the throne room, which filled itself with the chilling breezes of winter air, putting out the candles in seconds. The only thing which kept burning was the magical fire she'd set to the fireplace. Never faltering, never stopping to burn, just like her rage. It had to stop. He couldn't take it any longer, couldn't bear to watch his little girl being dragged into the darkness more and more with every day, every hour, every minute by her demons, the darkness and, worst of all, Rumpelstiltskin.

She'd turned cruel, aggressive, excessive and, worst of all, careless. What happened to his little cheerful princess who brought a small bird with a broken wing home to him, asking him to save it? What happened to his young girl who would take a ride with her horse through the woods over any dancing and manner lesson? What happened to his daughter who loved so fiercely with all her heart? Magic. Darkness. Rumpelstiltskin. _Cora_.

Henry balled his fists, feeling how the never ending worry and pressure kept his heart in a tight grip. It was time, it had to stop. _She_ had to be stopped. She needed a new life but she couldn't, not with what happened. There was no way to turn back time and even if there was, he wasn't sure if he'd manage to stand up for her this time. The only thing Henry could wish for was that he'd taken action when he'd still had the chance but he'd missed them all. Well, he wouldn't miss this one, the last chance he could give her, a chance for a new life… and he had one go at it.

It was late at night, the sun wouldn't rise for a few more hours when he made his way over to her chambers with a goblet of hot goat milk with honey and lavender. He used to bring it to her every night when she was still a child, hoping this would get him her attention. The night made her vulnerable, made her more attentive and showed glimpses of the old Regina he missed so much. So when he knocked on her door and was greeted with a snarled "What?!" he flinched, but took all the courage he had together and entered the bed chamber.

The fireball in her hand extinguished the moment she saw who entered, her face, which had been set into an angry mask softened. She was wearing a dark black nightgown embroidered with lace and shimmering black stones, her long hair braided to the side. She still looked regal, softer but nonetheless attractive like the queen he knew she never wanted to be.

"What is it, Daddy?" Oh, she was still pissed because of Snow. Henry smiled at her and walked over to her bed where he put the goblet on the nightstand. Regina eyed him less suspiciously and more curious. "It's late, you should be sleeping."

"As should you, my child," he smiled and patted his hand on the free space next to him. Reluctantly she walked over to him, sitting down right next to him. "You have a busy day tomorrow?"

She rolled her eyes. "This dullard of King George is coming to the castle with the King from the Maritime Kingdom to negotiate over the customs I want to establish on the borders of the kingdom. We can't have the Maritimes sell the silk they produce cheaply in one of their colonies to our kingdom and in thus ruin the silkworm farms I took so long to establish. No one will buy our silk when they can have the cheap silk from the Maritimes for half the price. But since the fastest route to the Maritimes to George's kingdom is through mine, they'll try to bargain with me. I'll try to get him to lower his iron prices in exchange for lower silk customs at my borders.

"Later I will have to check how the new army is progressing. I want every man to have a complete armor with a decent sword and shield. By lowering the prices on George's iron it will be cheaper for the soldiers to purchase the armor and more men will hopefully join voluntarily. The ogres will be coming soon and we need to be prepared to protect the mountains in the East."

She sighed, leaning closer in to him. Henry put an arm around her back, his heart aching for the times she used to do this every night, to seek for comfort in him. Even though the people called her the "Evil Queen", Henry knew she wasn't. She was a good queen with questionable methods. In the short time since Leopold's death she'd managed to bring the kingdom away from near ruin on a path to a moderate amount of wealth. Of course many people disagreed with her new army but they didn't receive the worsening messages from the East or they did not see how Regina tried to support the local businesses with the new custom plans instead of the cheap outlet markets others found in her kingdom. Yes, the kingdom was better off with her than with Leopold but he could see how the hunt for Snow and the lengths she was willing to go in order to catch her step-daughter were ruining her.

"It sounds like a busy day."

"It will be, daddy. Further than that I need someone to repair the broken damage in the throne room. I never liked the pictures in the windows anyway," she said with a suppressed laugh before she grew serious once more. "Why are you here?"

"I just wanted to see how my little girl is doing. I… I brought you something." He reached for the goblet and held it toward her with a smile. "I thought it would help you sleep better tonight."

Surprised, the queen to the goblet from her father and smelled the ambrosial drink. "It's… milk with honey and lavender?"

"Just the way you used to like it."

Regina eyed the drink with suspicion, her lip drawn into a frown before she looked back to her father. "Why?"

"I just thought you might like it. I prepared it myself, no worries," he added, knowing how suspicious she was to take food or drinks she hadn't tested before. It wasn't the rule for people to try and poison her with her food but it had happened.

Regina took a deep breath before she took a gulp from the goblet, savoring the sweet taste of the goat milk with the honey and the calming lavender. "It tastes like before."

"The drink is the same."

"The people aren't," she whispered before she took another gulp.

"That's not true. Look." Henry pointed at the mirror he knew usually held the trapped genie but tonight it was just showing their reflection. "What I see is a father and his beautiful, beautiful daughter."

"I see a queen everyone hates. Everyone but you," Regina explained bitterly before she finished the cup. Henry took it from her hand and rose, pulling back the covers of her elegant bed. Regina didn't argue but slipped inside, her head and eyes feeling heavy all of a sudden. She blinked fiercely, trying to stay awake.

"Nobody will hate you. Not any longer, I promise."

Her pupils were dilated and her breath coming out in short huffs. "What did you do?" It wasn't more than a whisper accompanied with a horrified look.

"I did what I should have done a long time ago, Regina. I give you a chance at a new life, a new happy ending," Henry explained sadly, his hand caressing his daughter's cheek. "Sleep, my child. Tomorrow you'll wake up in a better place."

"You killed me…" were the last words she let out before everything turned black.

Xxxxx

She woke up from distant voices with a headache and a blurred vision, her head felt heavy as a rock - thinking about it, so was any of her limbs. Where was she? What were these noises? She tried to fully open her eyes but was blinded by the bright light. It smelled earthy, a little bit like flowers and forest.

"She's waking up!" someone called, making her flinch at the sudden noise. Carefully her eyes adjusted to the bright light and she could make out silhouettes surrounding her… silhouettes who were pointing their weapons at her like she was prey.

"Stay down," someone growled and honestly, she didn't feel like she could get up even if she wanted to. She was thirsty, so thirsty her tongue stuck to the palate.

"Water," she whispered urgently.

"What shall we do with her?!"

"We should kill her on the spot."

"But we don't know if it's really her."

"But Much said she looks like her."

"So what? There are tons of women with black hair. Much has never seen her up close, none of us has."

"But we can't take her back to the camp," a third person said.

She tried to roll over, tried to move but she didn't have the power to twitch so much as a finger. "Water."

"Enough. She needs our help." Steps were coming toward her and for the first time she managed to focus her vision on the man who was now kneeling right next to her.

"Water," she asked for the third time and then a drinking hose was held to her lips, moistening them with fresh water. Her thirst became overwhelming an she drank too much too fast, making her choke and flinch with every cough she let out in order to get the water out of her lungs.

"Easy there," the man calmed her down, helping her to sit up and patting her lightly on the back. It took a while for her to be able to breathe again but the coughs died down eventually. He held the hose out to her once again and this time she drank more carefully, drops drizzling down her chin onto the vest she was wearing.

"Enough?" the man asked and she nodded, sinking back to the ground with her head spinning.

"Where… am I?" she wondered, her voice soft but audible.

"You're in Sherwood Forest. I'm Robin. What's your name?"

"I'm…" she started but stopped. Her headache grew worse. "I… I… My name is… I don't know." Panic. Panic flooded her system and she grabbed for the next best thing, which turned out to be the man's hand. "I don't know, I… Oh God. Who am I?"


End file.
